William Maclay (senator)

William Maclay (20 July 1737-16 April 1804) was a US Senator from Pennsylvania from 4 March 1789 to 4 March 1791, preceding Albert Gallatin. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Biography
William Maclay was born in New Garden Township, Pennsylvania in 1737, and he fought in the French and Indian War before becoming a lawyer in 1760. During the American Revolutionary War, he served in the Continental Army as a commissary, and he was also a frequent member of the state legislature during the 1780s. After the ratification of the US Constitution, Maclay was one of Pennsylvania's inaugural US Senators, serving from 1789 to 1791. He was a radical member of the Democratic-Republican Party, criticizing John Adams and George Washington. From 1795 to 1797, he served in the State House of Representatives, and he served a county judge from 1801 to 1803. He died in 1804.